Chest for flatwork ironer

ABSTRACT

A flatwork ironer is described having flexible heated singlelayer chests surrounding padded rolls. A hydraulic cylinder and lever system applies pressure on the ends of the flexible chests to wrap the chests around the rolls to apply a uniform ironing pressure against the rolls over the entire face of the chests. Each flexible single-layer chest is heated through a plurality of parallel steam tubes affixed to the back of the chest at spaced intervals.

United States Patent McMillan [1 1 3,681,865 1 Aug. 8, 1972 [54] CHEST FOR FLATWORK IRONER [72] Inventor: Jerry N. McMillan, PO. Box 167,

Colville, Wash. 991 14 [22] Filed: May 12, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 36,631

Related (1.8. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 835,032, June 20, 1969, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl ..38/56 [51] Int. Cl......D06l 63/00, D061 65/00, D061 65/10, D06f 65/14 [58] FieldofSearch ..38/51-6l, 14,8

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,195,937 4/1940 Pointon et a1 ..38/56 X 3,157,723 11/1964 Hachberg ..38/56 X 3,170,256 2/1965 Jesus ..38/56 3,191,325 6/1965 Jack ..38/56 3,516,184 6/1970 Oberley ..38/56 3,118,240 1/1964 D'Hooglc .Q ..33/$6 2,652,644 9/ 1953 Hewlett ..38/54 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 992,432 5/1965 Great Britain ..38/$6 1,167,304 4/1964 Germany..... ....38/56 1,332,810 611963 France ..38/56 1,211,122 2/1966 Germany ..38/56 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin Attorney-Wells, St. John and Roberts ABSTRACT 6 Claim 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDws 8 m2 sum 2 UP 2 TI Z oo 00 O OOOOOO INVENTOR. Jerry M MGM/Han wnflflo kgvlm aam rwlyj.

CHEST FOR FLATWORK IRONER The instant application is a continuation-in-part of application, Ser. No. 835,032 filed June 20, 1969 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to flatwork ironers and more particularly to heated ironing chests that are utilized in conjunction with padded rollers for ironing flat work.

Generally the flat work has a moisture content of approximately 45-50 percent when the flatwork material enters the ironer. The ironer is then required to dry and iron the flat work before it is ejected to a folding machine or the like. Many modern day infeed machines have a capacity of feeding the flat work to the ironer at speeds approaching 200 feet per minute. Most manufacturers have found that it requires approximately seven or more rolls and corresponding heat chests to adequately dry and iron the flat work at that speed.

It has been found that one of the reasons that such a large number of rolls and chests are required is the fact that efficient use is not made of the total available drying and ironing surface of the heated chests. Generally the initial shape of the heated chest is determined by the diameter of the roll with the padding attached. After a period of use the pad becomes worn and decreases the overall size of the roll which greatly decreases the surface area of the chest that is in pressure contact with the roll. An example of the problem is illustrated by a commercially used roll that is approximately 8 feet long having a diameter of approximately 19 inches including new padding. It has been found that after a couple of months of use, the overall diameter of the roll decreases due to wear to approximately 19 /16 inches in diameter. It has been found that with the decrease of five-sixteenth inch there is a corresponding decrease of 50 percent less surface contact between the roll and the chest. This greatly decreased the efficiency of the ironing process.

In attempts to overcome this problem, certain types of semiflexible and flexible chests have been devised. Examples of such devices are illustrated in US. Pat. No. 3,191,325 and British Pat. specifications Nos. 873,881; 968,710; and 992,432 and French Pat. specification 1,332,810. US. Pat. No. 3,191,325 and British Pat. specification Nos. 873,881 and 968,710 disclose two embodiments of a semiflexible heated chest having two layers with a heated fluid contained therebetween to provide a heat sink. In one embodiment two layers of sheet metal are attached together at their edges to form an inner wall and an outer wall with oil in a cavity therebetween. A steam coil is positioned in the cavity to heat the oil. In the other embodiment, one layer is formed of a plate three-eighth inch thick with a serpentine steam channel cut in the back thereof. A back panel is welded ro the plate to enclose the steam channels. Such steam chests are extremely limited in their flexibility and are quite expensive to manufacture and repair. Furthermore even nominal flexing of such chests will tend to shear the two layers from each other initiating frequent repair.

The heat chest disclosed in the French patent specification is quite similar with a fluid heat sink between two interconnecting panels. Such a unit has limited flexibility and is quite expensive to manufacture and maintain. The device shown in British Pat. specification No. 992,432 shows no means for reheating the flexible chest.

One of the principle objects of the invention is to provide a heated chest that is also quite flexible.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a chest having only one sheet metal panel in which has a means for effectively heating the one panel to transfer heat to the flat work.

A further object of this invention is to provide a heated flexible chest that is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to maintain and repair.

These and other objects of this invention and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the reading of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a flatwork ironer embodying the principles of this invention showing three padded rollers mounted on the ironer frame with flexible heated chests engaging the respective rolls;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the machine showing additional details of the padded roll and flexible chests,

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of one of the padded rolls having new padding mounted thereon with a corresponding flexible chest contacting the roll over the entire area of the inside surface of the chest;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 3 except showing the roll after considerable use with the padding worn reducing the overall diameter of the roll and the flexible chest conforming to the contour of the worn roll over the entire area of the inside surface of the chest; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 55 in FIG. 2 showing the construction detail of the chest.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a flatwork ironer 10 having a general frame structure 11 with side uprights l2, l3 and 14 for supporting horizontal pressing rolls l6, l7 and 18 respectively. The pressing rolls 16, 17 and 18 are mounted on the frame for rotation about fixed parallel axes. The intermediate pressing roll 17 is elevated above the pressing rolls 16 and 18. Each of the pressing rolls is constructed of a metal cylinder 20 (FIG. 2) having a plurality of holes 21. Cylinders 20 are rotatably mounted on bearings 24 that are afiixed on the uprights. Asbestos padding 22 is mounted on the outside of the cylinder. A vacuum source 25 is connected to the interior of the cylinders 20 for drawing air and heat through the asbestos padding and into the interior of the cylinders.

Flexible ironing chests 30, 31 and 32 are mounted on the frame 11 partly surrounding the respective pressing rolls l6, l7 and 18. Chest 31 is inverted to surround the upper part of the roll 17 while the chests 30 and 32 face upwardly for surrounding the lower portions of the rolls 16 and 18. Each of the chests have a smooth or polished face surface 37 engaging the circumference of the roll.

Each of the flexible chests 30, 31 and 32 is formed by a simple sheet metal panel 34 (FIG. 2) that is curved in a semi-circular shape to surround the pressing rolls. The chest extends around at least 160 of the roll. The metal panel 34 has curled ends 35 and 36 that are curled back upon each other to provide a smooth termination. A plurality of spaced heat transfer tubes 38 are affixed to the back of the sheet metal panel 34 in substantial horizontal orientations for conducting steam or other hot gases or fluids through the tubes to heat the chest. Flexible interconnecting lines 40 interconnect the tubes to provide a flow path for the hot fluid. An inlet steam line or gas line 41 connects one of the tubes to provide a source of fluid to each of the chests. A plurality of holes 43 are formed in the sheet metal panel 34 in between the tubes 38 so that air may be drawn through the apertures to the pressing rolls to provide for rapid transfer of heat from the chests through the flatwork to the pressing rolls.

The chests 30, 31 and 32 are supported by cradles 45, 46 and 47 respectively. The cradles are mounted for vertical movement for pressing the chests against the rolls. Each of the cradles 45, 46 and 47 has a platform 50 (FIGS. 2-4) that is mounted on the frame for vertical movement on vertical guides 51. Side brackets 52 and 53 are mounted on the platform in a vertical orientation for supporting the levers 54 and 55 thereon respectively. The levers 54 and 55 are pivotally interconnected between the side brackets at 56 and chest brackets 57 mounted on the back of the chest adjacent the curled ends. In this manner the chests are substantially floating on the cradles so that there is some lateral movement capability of the chests with respect to the pressing roll to accommodate the start up of the rolls and the beginning and end of the flatwork as the flatwork moves between the rolls and the chests.

Pressure cylinders 60 are mounted on the frame and operatively connected to the platforms 50 for moving the platforms vertically to flex the chests about the rolls. The double pivot connections of the levers 54 and 55 with the brackets 57 enable the force to be substan tially tangential to the pressing rolls to tend to wrap the chests about the pressing rolls to apply uniform pressure against the rolls over the entire surface 37 independently of the degree of wear on the rolls or the variance in roll diameter.

To assist in the movement of the flatwork through the ironer a plurality of top tapes 64 and bottom tapes 65 are mounted on the frame for movement between the rolls and chests to support the flatwork moved through the ironer.

The structure details of the heat transfer tubes 33 are illustrated in FIG. 5. The tubes are constructed of elongated aluminum extrusions 70 having side flanges 71 and 72 and a center steam passage 73 running the full length. The extrusion 70 has a concave curved face surface 74 that matches the contour of the back surface of the curved sheet metal panel 34. Steel bolts are welded to the back of the sheet metal panel 34 for extending through the side flanges 71 and 72 to secure the extrusions against the back of the panel 34 as shown in FIG. 5. Additionally, a high temperature epoxy resin adhesive is coated on the face surface 74 to adhere the extrusions to the panel 34. It has been found that such chest can be adequately constructed utilizing as thin as 14 gauge stainless steel sheet material for the panel 34.

Such a structure, enables the chest to be highly flexible and yet at the same time provides for efficient heat transfer to the flatwork.

As shown in FIG. 1 an infeed conveyor 66 is mounted on the frame for delivering flatwork in between the tapes 64, 65 at the front of the ironer. An outfeed conveyor 67 is mounted on the ironer for moving the flatwork from the ironer after it has been dried and ironed for conveyance to a folding operation.

FIG. 3 is a schematic profile view showing a pressing roll with a new layer of asbestos padding initially placed on the roll. The chest is engaging the pressing roll with the levers 54 and 55 extending substantially vertically. F IG. 4 shows the conditions after the asbestos padding has been worn thereby decreasing the diameter of the roll. It should be noted that the levers 54 and 55 are angularly positioned although still directed substantially tangent to the circumference of the roll. In this manner adjustment is made of changes in diameter of the roll as the padding is worn to maintain the entire face surface 37 of the chests in contact with the roll to provide for a large uniform heating area and pressing area to maintain the efficiency of the ironer.

It is estimated that the same degree of drying and ironing can be accomplished with only three rolls and flexible chest sets as compared to the conventional flatwork ironers having seven or more rolls.

Having now provided a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of my invention, 1 request that a United States Letters Patent be granted on my invention which is defined as follows:

1. In a flatwork ironer having at least one rotatable padded pressing roll:

a. a heated flexible chest having a face surface partly surrounding the pressing roll;

b. said chest having a single flexible sheet metal panel with a front concave surface defining the face surface of the chest and a back convex surface;

c. said chest having a plurality of parallel heat transfer tubes mounted to the back convex surface of the panel;

each of heat transfer tubes comprising an elongated aluminum extrusion having a central aperture running a substantial length therethrough for receiving a heated fluid and a concave surface complementary to the back convex surface of the P said chest having means for affixing the aluminum extrusions to the panels parallel to each other at spaced intervals with the concave surfaces of the extrusions engaging the back convex surface of the panel; and

f. pressure applying means operatively connected to the flexible chest for flexing the chest about a section of the pressing roll to press the entire face surface against the pressing roll at a unifonn pressure even though the diameter of the pressing roll may decrease over a period of time due to wear.

2. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible chest presses against at least of the circumference of the pressing roll.

3. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 1 wherein the pressing roll has a vacuum system for drawing air and heat from the exterior of the pressing roll to the interior and wherein the flexible heated chest has apertures formed through the panel to permit air to flow through the apertures to the pressing roll to facilitate fast drying of the flatwork.

4. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 1 wherein the single-sheet metal panel is contoured in a semi-circular shape with the ends of the panel curled back upon themselves.

5. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 4 wherein 

1. In a flatwork ironer having at least one rotatable padded pressing roll: a. a heated flexible chest having a face surface partly surrounding the pressing roll; b. said chest having a single flexible sheet metal panel with a front concave surface defining the face surface of the chest and a back convex surface; c. said chest having a plurality of parallel heat transfer tubes mounted to the back convex surface of the panel; d. each of heat transfer tubes comprising an elongated aluminum extrusion having a central aperture running a substantial length therethrough for receiving a heated fluid and a concave surface complementary to the back convex surface of the panel; e. said chest having means for affixing the aluminum extrusions to the panels parallel to each other at spaced intervals with the concave surfaces of the extrusions engaging the back convex surface of the panel; and f. pressure applying means operatively connected to the flexible chest for flexing the chest about a section of the pressing roll to press the entire face surface against the pressing roll at a uniform pressure even though the diameter of the pressing roll may decrease over a period of time due to wear.
 2. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible chest presses against at least 160* of the circumference of the pressing roll.
 3. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 1 wherein the pressing roll has a vacuum system for drawing air and heat from the exterior of the pressing roll to the interior and wherein the flexible heated chest has apertures formed through the panel to permit air to flow through the apertures to the pressing roll to facilitate fast drying of the flatwork.
 4. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 1 wherein the single-sheet metal panel is contoured in a semi-circular shape with the ends of the panel curled back upon themselves.
 5. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 4 wherein the pressure applying means is operatively connected to the ends of the panel for flexing the chest about the pressing roll by applying forces of the ends substantially tangential to the pressing roll.
 6. The flatwork ironer as defined in claim 1 wherein the aluminum extrusion has side flanges and wherein the means for affixing the extrusions to the panel include stud bolts welded to the back of the panel and secured to the side flanges for firmly affixing the extrusions firmly to the panel to efficiently transfer heat therebetween. 